All images owned by Absolutely Skint are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Canonical URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
The Absolutely Skint Image License in Plain English
I'm Pistol Taeja, I run Absolutely Skint, and I make all the original art you see on this site. Concept sketches, character designs, manga panels, game screenshots — it's all mine unless I say otherwise. I put a lot of hours into this stuff, so I want to be clear about what you can do with it.
The short version: you can use my images, share them, remix them, even build on them — as long as you credit me, keep it non-commercial, and release your version under the same license. That's what Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 means. It's a globally recognised open license maintained by the Creative Commons organisation, and it's the one I've chosen for the work published here on absolutelyskint.com.
I've written a bit about why image attribution matters from an SEO and discoverability angle in my post on indie developer SEO — the short version is that correct attribution helps Google trace images back to the right creator, which is good for me and good for you if you want to stay on the right side of search results.
What You're Free to Do
Under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license, you're free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute any Absolutely Skint image in any medium or format.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material. Make fan art, use it in a video essay, reference it in a blog post, whatever.
These freedoms can't be revoked as long as you follow the terms below. That's baked into how Creative Commons licenses work — I can't suddenly change my mind and come after you for something you did while the license was in force.
What You Must Do (the Attribution Bit)
This is the part people skip and then wonder why they get a message from me.
If you share or adapt any image from this site, you need to:
- Credit me by name — "Pistol Taeja / absolutelyskint.com" is fine. "Pistol Taeja" alone also works.
- Link back to the license — a link to creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ covers this.
- Indicate if you changed it — if you cropped it, coloured it, used it as a base for your own drawing, say so. Something like "adapted from Pistol Taeja / absolutelyskint.com" is enough.
- Don't imply I endorse you — using my art doesn't mean I'm vouching for your project, your opinions, or your business. Just don't make it look like it does.
What You Cannot Do Without Asking First
- Commercial use — you can't sell products, merchandise, prints, or services that use my images without getting my explicit permission first. That includes putting them in a paid app, using them in sponsored content, or licensing them on to someone else.
- Closed licensing — if you adapt my work, you have to release your adaptation under the same CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. You can't slap a more restrictive license on a derivative and lock people out of it.
- Technical locks — you can't use DRM or other technical measures to restrict what the license already permits. That would defeat the whole point.
I'm not trying to be precious about this. If you want to use something commercially — say, you're making a video and want to use a piece of concept art from P For Pistol in a thumbnail — just reach out and ask. I'm a real person, not a legal department. Most of the time the answer is yes, I just want to know about it.
A Note on Scope: What Counts as "Absolutely Skint Images"
This license covers original art and images created by me, Pistol Taeja, and published on this site. That includes:
- Concept art and character sketches from my games (P For Pistol, Pan Airways, GRILLFRIENDS, Enemy of the State, A Boy Named Dorothy)
- Manga panels and storyboard images I've created
- Original illustrations and promotional art I've made myself
It does not cover:
- Screenshots from commercial games I don't own
- Stock images or third-party assets I've licensed in
- Art commissioned from collaborators (their own licensing applies — I'll note this where relevant)
If you're not sure whether a specific image is mine to license, assume it isn't until you've checked.
No Warranties and Other Legal Boilerplate I Have to Include
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material that are already in the public domain, or where your use is covered by an applicable exception or limitation (fair use, fair dealing, and so on).
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions you need for your intended use. Other rights — publicity, privacy, moral rights — might limit how you can use the material even when the copyright terms allow it.
I'm not a lawyer. If you're doing something that involves real legal risk, talk to an actual lawyer rather than relying on a blog post written by an indie dev at 2am.
Conclusion
Use my stuff, credit me, keep it non-commercial, and we're good. If you want to do something that falls outside those terms, just ask.
I put a lot of work into everything published on this site — the manga, the game dev write-ups, the art. If any of it's been useful or you want to see what I'm actually building, check out P For Pistol.
